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3/26/17

EU @ 60: Brexit having 'opposite effect'

As the European Union marks its 60th anniversary, Brexit hangs over the bloc like a black cloud on a stormy day.

But one French newspaper correspondent says the divorce is likely to be an isolated one.

“The Brexit had exactly the opposite effect of what was
expected. There’s been no domino effect, the exact reverse in fact.
No-one announced that they would hold a referendum, so there was no
‘Polxit,’ ‘Nexit,’ etcetera,” said Jean Quatremer, from the Liberation
newspaper.

“The most Eurosceptic countries said ‘no, no, we want to
stay, we won’t do like the British.’ But public opinion awakened, that
is to say those were somewhat anaesthetised by the thought that now
makes up euroscepticism and europhobia, have woken up because people are
not stupid,” he continued.

“The fact there’s been no war in Europe for more than 70
years, that even if there are inequalities, even if there is
unemployment in some countries, it is infinitely less worse than the
rest of the world.

“It is an area that attracts the rest of the world, there
are not many European refugees in Africa, the Middle East, or even the
US. So basically, citizens are much more attached to community building
than we imagined.”